Stephan G. Stephansson (October 3, 1853 – August 10, 1927) was a
Western Icelander, poet, and farmer. His given name was Stefán Guðmundur Guðmundsson.
He was born in
Skagafjörður
Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland.
Location
Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi Peninsula to the west. There are t ...
,
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
but immigrated to
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, United States in 1873, at age 19. In 1889 he moved to
Markerville
Markerville is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within Red Deer County. It is located north of Highway 54, approximately southwest of Red Deer.
Markerville was the home for many years of Stephan G. Stephansson, famous in modern Iceland ...
,
Red Deer County
Red Deer County is a List of municipal districts in Alberta, municipal district in central Alberta, Canada within Division No. 8, Alberta, Census Division No. 8 and surrounding the Red Deer, Alberta, City of Red Deer. The neighbouring municipali ...
, Alberta, Canada. He did not see Iceland again until 1917, when he was 64 years old.
Stephan was self-educated and worked hard all his life. He wrote after work, and, being an insomniac, he often wrote till dawn. He was under the influence of the United States, American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson and they shared the same beliefs in many matters, including equal rights for men and women. Stephan wrote only in Icelandic language, Icelandic and had great influence in his home country.
His poems were published in a six volume book called "Andvökur" (Wakeful Nights).
His letters and essays were published in four volumes, and even if nothing of his poetry had survived, those would have been enough to single him out as one of Iceland's foremost men of letters.
Legacy
His homestead near Markerville is an Alberta Provincial Historic Site. It has been restored and is open to the public from May 15 until August 31.
The Stephan G. Stephansson Award is named in his honor and awarded annually by the Writers Guild of Alberta.
In 1984 folk artist Richard White released an album of Stephansson poems sung in English translation and set to original music called ''Sun Over Darkness Prevail''.
Image:Monument to Stephan Stephansson.jpg, Monument to Stephan Stephansson at Vatnsskarð pass near Varmahlið in northern Iceland
Image:StefanGStefansson12.JPG, Stephan G. Stephansson Monument
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephansson, Stephan
1853 births
1927 deaths
Icelandic male poets
Icelandic emigrants to Canada
Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Place of death missing
Icelandic emigrants to the United States
19th-century Icelandic people